7 Steps to Seamless Webflow Client Onboarding: A Complete Guide

Every collaboration in the Webflow world has a path - from a client's idea and booking an agency to the post-launch process. 

Each path of those collaborations has its phases, and one of the most important is Webflow client onboarding. You may have mastered your Webflow skills and now know how to create a perfect website for your clients. 

But when the clock ticks and your client comes knocking on your door, do you know how to onboard them properly? 

In the excitement of the new project waiting around the corner, you may miss important client engagement moments and take many steps backward. 

The core of every successful Webflow onboarding consists of precise steps that every Webflow agency should follow. 

In this article, you'll learn how to successfully onboard your Webflow client and minimize the risk of mistakes.

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Pre-onboarding phase – What you need to know

Before you even onboard your Webflow client, you need to prepare everything in the pre-onboarding phase. 

This phase is perfect for setting project details that will help you in the onboarding process. 

Here's how you can do it:

• Define project scope – In the initial phase, you need a clear definition of the project scope. Now it's the perfect moment to understand clients' project goals, expectations, and desired outcomes.
• Set communication channels – Communication is everything in the Webflow agency-client partnerships, and the pre-onboarding phase is a great moment to establish communication methods and channels and set expectations for the response timeline.
• Create a project timeline – To manage expectations and set project delivery time frames, you will need a project timeline. Here you can make a detailed plan with clear milestones so both you and your client know what will be the project flow.
• Define payment terms – Last but not least, you need to agree with your client upon payment terms. Here you can include deposits, milestone payments, and final payments for the project.

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7 Key Steps Of The Webflow Onboarding Process

Once you’ve set all the project details, you’re ready for the client onboarding process! 

Based on your practices, you may have some different types of onboarding, but here are some fundamental steps every Webflow agency can follow.

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1. Kick-Off Meeting

The kick-off meeting is the first step in the Webflow onboarding process, allowing everyone to get on the same page. 

During the kick-off meeting, clients plus everyone who will be working on the project will get involved in the conversation about who will be responsible for what. During the kickoff meeting, you should:

• Introduce your team and their roles - Introducing the team to the clients is crucial for building trust, once introduced clients will always know who will work on what on the project.
• Reviewing project scope, goals, and timeline - After introduction, you should briefly go over what will be included in the project, from clients' goals to the project timeline.
• Decide on communication channels - Once you've gone over the project details, it's time to decide how you’ll keep in touch with the client. Whether it's going to be via email, phone, or other communication tools, make sure that report expectations are set.
• Answering questions, and addressing concerns - During the kick-off meeting, you should also let your client ask you a question, or share their concerns about the project, if they have it. Ensure you address those with much professionalism making the client feel secure with your Webflow agency.

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2. Client Access

When you set up the basics of the onboarding process and agree on details it's time to give clients access to follow the project. 

One of the biggest advantages of Webflow is that it allows clients to be involved during the project creation phase.

• Log in access - Provide your client with access to the Webflow project, and make sure that it works seamlessly.
• Explain Webflow navigation - Explain to the client how to navigate the platform and access important project areas so they can interact if needed
• Consider CMS - If the project allows it, consider using client-friendly tools or CMS that are easy to use for updating the content.

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3. Gather all the content

Sometimes, if you don't gather all the content right on time you can risk expanding the project scope. That's why step 3 should include:

• Create a content checklist - In building a website, content is an essential part so make sure you list everything around the content you need. Images, text, videos, and other materials should be ready before you start building the website
• Set a content delivery deadline - Gathering content can take time, so make sure you set a clear deadline for when you need content provided by the clients.
• Note content format - To prevent your project from scope creep, and spending extra time on editing content make sure your clients are informed about the format of the content you need for the project.

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4. Review and feedback on design

Once you have a first version of the design, it's time to share it with your client. During this step, clients can review your work, and give their feedback.

• Define feedback channel - Before you show your design to the client, make sure you define how they will provide their feedback. Here, you can use tools that can make it easy for the clients to review and provide their input if needed.
• Present design - Showing the initial design or wireframes to your client and getting feedback is the turning point of the project. Give your clients time to think about what you've designed, and set a timeline in which you expect to get feedback.
• Feedback application - If the client likes your design, great job, you can move on with the project! But if your client isn't 100% satisfied with the result, make sure you apply their feedback if they're realistic and close to the initial agreement.  

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5. Development phase

In the development phase, you turn your design into life. Besides developing, some testing should be included as well.

• Stick to the development plan, update your clients - Build your website based on the plan you initially made, and regularly update the client on how the development is going.
• Go with check-ins - Regular meetings and check-ins in which you will inform clients about how everything is going are important. In those check-ins, you and your client can discuss some questions or concerns about the project ongoing.
• Involve clients in testing - Once developed, your website should be tested. Here, you can let the client test the website and make sure what you did meets their needs and expectations before it goes live.

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6. Training and learning phase

When the website is built, it's time to train your clients on how to use and manage it. Here's what you can do:

• Provide training - Show the client all the important aspects of using their new website, introducing them to the main features and CMS options.
• Create tutorials - You can as well create tutorials for your clients, and provide them with easy-to-understand guides or explanation videos.
• Offer ongoing support and maintenance - This can be defined in the pre-onboarding phase, but if this isn't the case, make sure the client knows they can reach out for help after the training is over.

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7. Launch phase and Post-Launch Support

Finally, it's time to launch a website! This step includes the actual launch, as well as post-launch monitoring to check if everything works well.

• Set the launch date - Plan the launch date with your client, and ensure everything is ready to go live.
• Provide post-launch support - Check if everything works as it should, and be available there if troubleshooting assistance is needed.
• Recover any technical issues - If any performance issues appear, be there to quickly handle everything.

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Make The Webflow Client Onboarding a Breeze

If you follow these steps, onboarding Webflow customers will be a breeze!

Once you start, this will be the way you onboard all your Webflow customers - detailed, efficient and successful. 

At the end of the day, the client onboarding process should provide a seamless collaboration and give your client the website they want, while you have another successful project in your career.